"... the Griffin Party desperately needs an opportunity, if blame must be assigned, let it fall on me, Damian."
"Blame you? Can you even bear that burden? Let’s wait until everything has settled down, and then we’ll properly settle this account! I need to head back to the Hidden Affairs Bureau first to deal with those traitorous beasts, farewell."
"I must also return for my prayers, farewell."
Marix and Archbishop Delien bid farewell to Mr. Helsen and Damian, with Damian sitting shirtless atop the ruins of the collapsed building, looking like a child who had done something wrong, staring vacantly at the warships approaching in the distance.
Mr. Helsen originally wanted to say something more but seeing the state of his old friend, he couldn’t bring himself to be harsh because he knew the immense pressure Damian was bearing, and it was not easy for him either.
Just as the atmosphere had quieted down slightly, a crisp cry of a baby suddenly echoed through the tranquil street.
Everyone quickly turned their heads toward the source of the sound, only to see it coming from the gradually dissipating body of the monster.
"Be careful, Mr. Helsen!"
Mr. Helsen cautiously approached the disintegrating monster body and saw countless giant organs turning into ashes, leaving only something the size of a carriage. And after the final layer of skin peeled away, at the very center of the flesh, lay a porcelain doll-like baby screaming up at the sky.
"Oh, my goodness, there’s a baby inside its body, and it’s a girl!"
Mr. Helsen’s eyes slightly brightened. He swiftly took off his black Wizard Robe, a treasure symbolizing his status once bestowed by the Royal Family. Without any hesitation, he used it as a swaddle to carefully wrap up the baby girl.
"Look, Damian, it’s a girl!"
Damian and Vileli came over to look at the little girl nesting in the swaddle, who was just an infant but had particularly beautiful eyes. Especially after Mr. Helsen held her, her crying slowly subsided, turning into a silly, gentle smile.
"Ah, how adorable... How could there be a baby inside that monster?"
"Mr. Helsen, this baby was born from the monster’s body, what if she isn’t human..."
Chief Leola voiced her concerns from behind, but Mr. Helsen just smiled warmly, rocking the baby non-stop,
"Hey, how could she not be human? Look, the shape of her Magic Circuit is just like a human’s, and even stronger than others’, a great material for a Mage... You say, if her soul is human, what else can she be if not human?"
Mr. Helsen, holding the baby girl, couldn’t take his eyes off her porcelain-doll-like appearance, growing more fond of her by the moment,
"Oh dear, I’ll take her for a checkup later, and if there are no issues, she’ll be my granddaughter... Right, we need to name her, what would be a good name?"
"I’ll name her, how about Anna?"
This name was the most common among the Nali people for daughters, similar to naming a boy "Xiao Ming" or a girl "Xiao Hong"...
Mr. Helsen looked disdainfully at his granddaughter, doubting her naming skills.
He pondered for a second, then gently lifted the child in the bright sunlight, looking at this new life’s aged face and slightly smiled,
"Ah, let’s name her Alicia..."
"Alicia," a modern transliteration of an Ancient Nali Language word, translates as either "hope" or...